|
Water is
life not only in Rajasthan but the whole country. Otherwise how else would one explain water
related unrest in whole country, riots breaking in
Rajasthan farmers, or the large-scale migration that is currently taking place in desiccated Rajasthan? This colourless, odourless, and tasteless liquid is essential for all forms of growth and development
– humans, animals and plants. And if this basic need is not met, then all hell can break loose. Helpless, drought-hit districts of
Rajasthan have little choice other than to pray for the success of the administration’s desperate attempts to strike new sources of drinking
water. The drought is causing social concern, as there have been reports of
drinking water shortage all over in Rajasthan region. Water scarcity is now the single biggest threat to food production, as falling groundwater levels make less water available for agriculture.
The United Nations Environment Programme warns that the world today is faced with a water crisis that is life
threatening. Its report on water released recently says that unlike the energy crisis, water crisis can mean the difference between
life and death. To quote: ``Without sustainable water management to ensure that there are sufficient supplies of clean, safe, water, the health of ecosystems and those who depend on them,
especially people, suffer''. Shortage of potable water is restricted not just to urban areas; the problem is worse in villages and hamlets where lack of water means no crops and hence, no food. Currently, a severe drought
threatens several Indian states - Rajasthan, Gujarat , and even Maharashtra , an advanced industrialised state. Indeed, as many as 19 districts in Maharashtra are badly affected and
villagers have been forced to depend on water supplied through official water tankers. Reports suggest that because of the huge demand-supply gap, village elderly are having to do with not more than one glass of drinking water through the day.
This is apart from contaminated water, which routinely causes outbreaks of
diarrhea diseases like cholera and dysentery, typhoid, and malaria. More than 15 million children under five years die and more than 1.2 billion people's health is adversely affected every year on account of unsafe drinking water. Needless to say, women and children suffer the most.
Unclean water causes environmental, economic and social costs. Water-diviners'
services were traditionally commissioned by rural folk to help find groundwater. Today, water tables are receding to such low levels, far below the ground, that
tube wells to pump up this water have to be sunk even deeper to access whatever little is available. In many areas, a surfeit of
tube wells have been installed as per mandatory government procedure. However, all of these only add to the grimness of the drought-ridden landscapes: Parched soil, rotting carcasses, dry farms and defunct water pumps. While we search
for clean, potable water, it is equally important to conserve the water we already have - by minimising wastage and by scientific storage. With the summer having set in, this becomes all the more imperative. A simple, easily accessible, inexpensive and proven method of collecting potable water is
through rainwater harvesting - both at the individual and at the community level. Sustainable management of water catchment areas is already a well known solution. It involves forest preservation and prevention of effluent pollution in the area.
Since water is a key resource and we can never create more water, water
management deserves priority in the development and preservation of any area. ``Everybody loves a good drought'', wrote P Sainath who described relief as the teesra fasal'' or the third crop that goes into the pockets of middlemen. The answer clearly is localised community water
management together with the revival of traditional irrigation systems. In other words, a people's movement that will not wait for the government to take proactive action. |
In rural areas of women are spending increasing amounts of time and energy
traveling long distances to get water. In some dry regions of
Rajasthan, they spend as much as four hours a day and walk an average six km for water.
|
|
Water
Crisis in Rajasthan
